Will Hoge – Tenderhearted Boys
Will Howe’s new album Tenderhearted Boys landed quietly this year, notwithstanding that it was luminously acoustic and potent. Will has a characteristically rockin’ electric guitar energy, featured in his recent albums Wings on My Shoes, Tiny Little Movies and the powerful 2018 My American Dream. In his latest release, he speaks from the heart with mostly solo acoustic guitar, subdued piano, and honest lyrics speaking truths about life, love, raising kids, growing older, and revisiting your family tree.
“Deadbolt” is a moving, soaring love song building up to gorgeous confessional heights with Will on acoustic guitar. It’s just human to human: “anything that I was hiding I ain’t hiding anymore / it’s time to put that deadbolt on the door, ’cause I can’t hold it all back anymore / all these broken little shadows on the floor / you just came and swept them up, and made me finally see, that maybe I could really be enough.” Your heart will soar along with the buildup on this one, no doubt.
“End of the World” is a song about growing up and listening to the tv spouting threats of war, and your parents aren’t speaking anymore and “it feels a little bit like we’re all on the brink, with all the bullets and bullshit, big money and lies, if it’s the end of the world, I just want to spend it with you.” Luckily we had peers to help us get through.
“Some People” is a set of observations on pop psychology slogans and pieces of (mis)advice, as he points out it’s all a matter of perspective: “Some people say money can’t make you happy / Some people must never have been broke.”
“You Love Me Anyway” is another with Americana sweet guitar tones, both acoustic and electric, and a “hat in your hand” openhearted love song: “Dirty clothes from the road in this suitcase by the bed /
Time zones and half-charged phones are messing with my head / I can’t sleep so I get up and play this damn guitar / I wake you up and sorry’s all I can say / And you love me anyway.”
Raising two boys is as deeply fulfilling as it is challenging, and this album is devoted at least in part to reflections on that parenting journey, with its inevitable reflections back on your own childhood. It’s poignant to watch kids grow as you realize the world isn’t exactly the place you hoped it would be for them, and boys have a particular experience and challenge to hold onto their compassion. Will makes these shifting sands plain on the title track “I was there when y’all showed up / Thought I’d always had enough / I didn’t know until right then what I was missing / Even years after I’m gone / Promise me you’ll be tenderhearted boys.”
“My Daddy’s Eyes” is a look back through generations of men and the struggles to support their families, and “I was the light in my Daddy’s eyes.” Then seeing the pattern repeat when you have your own kids, it’s a song about love and tough times over thoughtful piano.
This is a thoroughly satisfying album, one of the year’s best. It has exactly everything that Americana music fans are looking for: honesty, thoughtful writing, an easy delivery style, with sorrows, regrets, love, and simple confessions. Really fully worth the listen. https://willhoge.bandcamp.com/album/tenderhearted-boys
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Will Hoge’s “Tiny Little Movies” Inhabits Tone with Authority
Tenderhearted Boys was produced by Will Hoge, engineered and mixed by Grant Wilson, and mastered by Shelley Anderson. Vocals and all instruments were played by Will.
